Timeline: Gay Marriage In Law, Pop Culture And The Courts

NPR Staff

Updated: 1 year ago.

Mike McConnell (left) and Jack Baker -- the couple in the Baker v. Nelson case attempt to get a marriage license in Minneapolis in May 1970. The AP reported in December 2012 that the two are still together.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on two cases dealing with gay marriage, here's a look at how the debate has touched American life over the past four decades:

1972

In Baker v. Nelson, the U.S. Supreme Court dismisses a challenge of a ruling from Minnesota that gay couples have no constitutional right to marry, saying the appeal fails to raise a "substantial federal question."

1973

Maryland becomes the first state to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman.

The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.

2013

Lawmakers in Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota vote to approve same-sex marriage (making a total of 12 states that legalize it, along with the District of Columbia).

The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, meaning scores of federal benefits will now be available to legally married gay couples. The court also rules that supporters of California's same-sex marriage ban did not have the legal right to defend it in court, which could clear the way for gay marriage to resume in that state.

Compiled by Erica Ryan. Audio interviews conducted in March 2013 by Ari Shapiro.

Sources: SCOTUSblog, PBS, IMDb, Gallup, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, NPR